- NHS hospital
Royal Cornwall Hospital
Assessment report published 29 August 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 8 to 9 April 2025. Royal Cornwall Hospital provides a range of NHS hospital services. The assessment looked at medical care services and urgent and emergency care services as part of the System Pathway Pressures programme. We rated medical care services and urgent and emergency care services as requires improvement. The rating for medical care services and urgent and emergency care services has been combined with ratings of the other services from the last inspections. See our previous reports to get a full picture of all other services at Royal Cornwall Hospital. The rating of Royal Cornwall Hospital remains requires improvement.
In our assessment of medical care services we found the service did not always have a positive and proactive safety culture where events were investigated. The service did not always work well with patients and health system partners to maintain safe systems and continuity of care. There was not always enough staff to meet patients' needs. Staff were not always able to provide care and treatment in line with evidence-based practice that delivered good outcomes. Staff were kind, caring and compassionate. The service did not always respond to people's immediate needs. People were not always able to access care in a timely manner due to flow challenges across the hospital. The department and staff were led by capable service-level leaders. However, governance and risk management structures were not robust and did not always support the delivery of high-quality care.
In our assessment of urgent and emergency care services we found consultant cover was not in line with national guidance. There was crowding in the department due to flow challenges across the hospital. Staff worked in a strong culture of evidence-based practice. Staff treated patients kindly and with compassion. Medicines were not always managed and stored safely. Governance systems were in place but were not always effective. The leaders were capable and driven, however there was concern for the wellbeing of leadership due to the pace of change.